Sharon Vaughn and Jimmy Harrity are the Democratic nominees to fill two City Council vacancies

Sharon Vaughn, a longtime City Council staffer, and Jimmy Harrity, a former aide to State Sen. Sharif Street, are the Democratic nominees in the Nov. 8 special elections to fill two vacant Council at-large seats.

Democratic ward leaders voted unanimously Thursday night to nominate Vaughn and Harrity, ward leader and former City Controller Alan Butkovitz said. They are now all but guaranteed to win the special elections, thanks to the city’s heavily Democratic electorate.

» READ MORE: What you need to know about the Philly Democrats hoping to fill City Council’s two vacant at-large seats

Vaughn was chief of staff to former Councilmember Derek Green before Green stepped down earlier this month to run in next year’s mayoral race, creating the opening that Vaughn will likely fill in late November after the election results are certified.

Vaughn, who was still a Council staffer until Wednesday night, said she immediately submitted her resignation to comply with the city Home Rule Charter’s “resign to run” rule, which requires city employees to step down from current positions if they run for a new office.

“I would like to look into how we can start to finance some of these gun violence prevention programs,” said Vaughn, who lives in Feltonville. “We need to see if we can find who is creating these crimes, and if we can offer them some type of resources to maybe prevent them from going out there and being violent criminals.”

If elected, Vaughn and Harrity would serve out the remainder of the current four-year Council term, which ends in January 2024.

Democratic City Committee Chairman Bob Brady said Tuesday that Vaughn had previously indicated she would not run for a full four-year term in the 2023 elections if she is nominated for the special election.

But Vaughn said Wednesday night that she would evaluate her options after the special election.

“I’m focusing on this one right now. We’ll see where that takes me,” she said.

The other vacancy was created by former Councilmember Allan Domb, who is still weighing whether to join the race to replace term-limited Mayor Jim Kenney.

Domb’s former chief of staff, Eryn Santamoor, spoke before the Democratic City Committee’s policy committee during candidate interviews, but party leaders instead backed Harrity, who became political director for the Pennsylvania Democratic Party after Street was elected chairman of the state party earlier this year.

Harrity, who lives in Kensington, said he plans to focus on education when he joins Council to make sure Philadelphia children get “an honest and even chance.”

“One of the best ways for somebody to get out of the ghetto is through an education, and we’re not doing a good job of that,” Harrity said. “We’re cutting all the programs for the kids. They have no place to go. And you see what happens.”

Harrity plans to run for a full term in next year’s regular Council elections, and Brady said he would likely get the party’s endorsement, as incumbents usually do.

Democratic ward leaders on Thursday night also ratified the nominations of Quetcy Lozada and Anthony Phillips to fill two separate Council vacancies created by the recent resignations of two other mayoral hopefuls: Maria Quiñones-Sánchez and Cherelle L. Parker.

Lozada is poised to replace Quiñones-Sánchez, for whom Lozada served as chief of staff from 2008 to 2018, in the Kensington-based 7th District.

Phillips, who leads the nonprofit Youth Action, is in line to take over Parker’s 9th District, which includes parts of North and Northwest Philadelphia.

Republican ward leaders plan to meet next week to select their nominees for the special elections. James Hasher, a Realtor and bar owner, and Drew Murray, a ward leader, are expected to be the at-large nominees, according to a Philly GOP source who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the nominations before they are finalized.

James Whitehead will likely be the nominee in the 7th District, the source said, while no candidate has emerged in the 9th District.